


Friends in Low Places

by NeoVenus22



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Leap For Prompts Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-13
Updated: 2010-03-13
Packaged: 2017-10-07 22:57:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vala crashes a local pub to find some business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends in Low Places

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: 8x12, 'Prometheus Unbound'

Vala landed the al'kesh on the nearest planet with a Stargate, then promptly dialed the address of the seediest planet she could think of. It'd be a good place to hide, not to mention a good place to pick up some contacts for her next job. Something that needed to be done sooner rather than later, particularly if Tennet and Narmod had survived.

Vala sipped idly at her drink and surveyed the watering hole's patronage, a good number of whom were eying her right back. She preened, it was good for business, but she still wished she'd had time to find where Daniel had hidden the Kull warrior armor before she'd made her escape.

Anyway, the trick now was selling herself to the highest bidder without ever playing her hand that she was sort of on the run from a deal gone bad, not to mention holding onto an al'kesh that could barely take off.

"Vala Mal Doran," a gravelly voice pronounced, and she finished the last of her drink for fortification before turning to meet her potential buyer with a smile. Sometimes her reputation preceded her, and she could only hope the buyer knew about her tenacity and willingness to cross lines, and not her quick gun hand and her willingness to double-cross.

"The one and only," she pronounced. She didn't recognize his tufty black beard or slatted eyes, but he seemed just grizzled enough to be trustworthy. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Hald. I'm looking to unload some cargo while I wait for my buyer," he said flatly. "A few zat'nik'tels."

Vala didn't bat an eye. "And just how many is 'a few'?"

"Fifteen crates, forty units a crate."

A sizable cache, to say the least. She suspected this wasn't an average trade, but as a policy, she didn't ask question, and hoped they returned the favor when a few of the goods went inexplicably missing.

"I understand your asking price is a bit high," the man said. "But your reputation is worth it. All I need is someone to hold onto the cargo until my buyer comes. We split the proceeds sixty-forty."

"And the proceeds are..?" she said, trying to play her apprehension off as disinterest. For him to offer her that high a percentage without negotiation was suspect. If Vala believed in luck, she might have thought hers had gone a bit sour as of late.

"Naquadria."

"I thought that stuff was volatile," she remarked casually.

Hald knew exactly which strings to pluck. "And very hard to come by."

Oh well. What was a little danger and intrigue if the rewards were worth it?

So what if the deal with the stolen Tau'ri ship had gone south? Vala didn't believe in bad luck, only in challenge and profit. Daniel had been a challenge. But this was pure profit. She grinned at Hald. "And just how many days will you be requiring my service?"


End file.
